Devansh Lakhanpal walks the halls and hears the concerns of his peers.
It's part of what inspired the Jacob Hespeler Secondary School student to run for student trustee with the Waterloo Region District School Board.
"I was able to reach out to so many students personally," Lakhanpal said of his campaign.
"I talked about problems that the student body recognized and wanted to work towards. I have a lot of ideas planned out."
Among the biggest issues the Grade 11 student sees is discrimination, racism, sexism and preconceived prejudice.
These topics can be heavy and aren't always front and centre, but they're present, Lakhanpal said. It's something he wants to call out to not only condemn but educate people about in hopes of forcing corrective actions.
"Often people just assume it's something on social media," he said.
"Whether it's a joke or a comment people say walking by, it affects a lot of people directly. It's almost impossible to get these issues resolved because it's not something everyone wants to talk about. It creates a lot of stigma for the people who are affected by it."
Among the ideas he plans to bring to the board are the creation of awareness programs, forming connection to programs that already exist and developing specific events at school.
While discussing issues is the first step to changing behaviour, it's not enough to stop there, Lakhanpal said.
"I want this to be more than just an assembly people go to," he said.
"Because often times what happens with an assembly, is when its over, students go back to the way they were. It's just another thing they're going through, not something they actually want to make a change about."
Bringing attention to student-led initiatives within the school system and helping them get past the discussion phase is also something the newest trustee hopes to push for with the support of the board.
The role of student trustee comes with significant responsibility but it's one Lakhanpal believes he can handle.
Admittedly nervous about making the decision to run, he leaned on the support of his friends and family when finally choosing to put his name on the ballot.
Already the student president at JHSS and an active member of the Air Cadet Program, his previous experience played a large role in his election.
When Lakhanpal's term officially begins August 1, he's excited to get to work on creating a more inclusive school board, just like his campaign promised.
"There's ideas that just get talked about but are never put into action," he said.
"There's a lot of good ones that don't get the attention they deserve."
